World T20 2021 | Will the golden generation of Dutch cricket get them through the group of death?
The Netherlands cricket team has had eventful outings at the T20 World Cups over the years which include beating England not once but twice. The first win came in 2009 at the group stage in England and the second one at the Super 10 stage in the 2014 World Cup in Bangladesh. Apart from beating England, their feat of qualifying for Super 10 by topping their Group in Round 1 where they faced the likes of Ireland and Zimbabwe is also something that is remembered by the Dutch cricket fans. But all that has been years ago. Now, the fans and team itself would be looking to make it to the Super 12 from Round 1. Why is their target only to make the Super 12 even as two teams can now qualify from their group is because the group itself is a group of death. With Sri Lanka, Ireland and a well-formed Namibian unit in the same group as the Netherlands, it is more about getting out of it safe and sound than thinking about topping it or aiming for big wins. Netherland's road to World Cup 2021 The road that the Netherlands unit has travelled through to get to the World Cup has been an equally eventful one as ahs their journey in World Cups been. While they won five games in the World Cup Qualifier 2019 and lost only to Papua New Guinea, whom they beat eventually in the final to win the entire tournament in UAE in 2019. But due to their loss to PNG, the Dutch had to play a Playoffs Semi-Final against UAE, which they win with much ease by nine wickets. In the semi-final, they beat Ireland to book a date with PNG and then win against them to settle scores. It is what happened post Qualifier with the Dutch side that has kept them going, coming into this World Cup. Post the Qualifiers, the Dutch lost twice against Nepal while beating them once in their home and tied one and won one against Malaysia at the same venue. Post that the Orange brigade was involved in two ODIs against Scotland and three against Ireland as part of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League. They lost one against Scotland but won the series 2-1 against Ireland, their biggest ODI series win to date. It is with this confidence and the confidence of its players such as Fred Klaasen, Paul van Meekran, Logan van Beek and Tim van der Gugten who played in big leagues such as T20 Blast, Caribbean Premier League and The Hundred, that the Dutch team came in this World Cup with. In the Warm-up games, though they have lost one to Scotland, their performance against Oman and New Zealand was comprehensive, although they lost to New Zealand by only four runs. Amalgamation of youth and experience: Netherland's flex The best part about this team is that this is probably the best set of cricketers that the Netherlands have got in recent time or probably in the entire history of their game. While the likes of Pieter Seelaar, Roelof van der Merwe and Rayn Ten Doeschate have been in the business for almost two decades now, the youngsters such as Max O’Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Fred Klaasen. Paul van Meekeren and Tim van der Gugten have had the exposure that was previously unseen and unheard of in Dutch cricket. All these players have been regulars at County, T20 Blast and now even The Hundred and therefore come in with a lot of T20 experience. In terms of runs and wickets, O’Dowd has to his kitty more than 1000 T20I runs and has the only century for a Dutchman in T20Is to his name as well. Only Australia born Ben Cooper has more T20I runs than O’Dowd in the Netherlands squad. If Cooper and O’Dowd are top run-getters, skipper Seelaar and van Meekeren are the leading wicket-takers in T20 cricket for the Dutch side with 57 and 47 wickets respectively. Other bowlers such as Klaasen, van der Gugten, Logan van Beek and Brandon Glover too are handy with the leather and thus it would be a headache for coach Ryan Campbell to pick the three or four pacers to go with the spin of Seelaar and van der Merwe. Thus this abundance of talent in the Netherlands camp would make the team feel confident about going into the World Cup. Great ambitions Even after being in the group of death, the Orange Army’s coach Campbell believes that they can get past it and march into the Super 12 as the top two teams. “Yes, it's definitely the group of death, but every World Cup game is tough. There are no easy matches. The other three teams also have match-winners in their ranks. We are confident that we can progress to the Super 12s, but we have to be at our best if we want to qualify. Our team has a lot of talent and we're flexible,” Campbell said in an interview published on KNCB’s website. The words of Campbell could come true, but only if the potential is utilised on the given day, starting with the team’s toughest game against Ireland. Can they do it? For the Netherlands to qualify, the equation is pretty simple, win at least two games and make sure that the net run rate is at a good place. With the kind of form, they have been in the Netherlands can also win three games and has the capability of beating Sri Lanka as well, especially with the kind of side that Sri Lanka currently is. Hence as far as the question about whether or not can they get into Super 12, the answer should be yes. Netherlands T20 World Cup Squad Pieter Seelaar (c), Colin Ackermann, Philippe Boissevain, Ben Cooper, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards, Brandon Glover, Fred Klaassen, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Logan van Beek, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren Netherlands T20 World Cup fixtures 18 Oct - Netherlands v Ireland 20 Oct – Netherlands v Namibia 22 Oct – Netherlands v Sri Lanka
 "Somya Kapoor")
